Wait, it’s Tuesday already? Madness! Here are some need-to-know numbers for your day.
The NCAA men’s college basketball championship kicks off on Tuesday, with the First Four squaring off. The tournament, otherwise known as March Madness, brings in a ton of viewership. And where there are viewers, there are dollars. In fact, March Madness has turned into a $740 million venture, what with all of the advertisers and sponsors clamoring to get air time. But student athletes have raised issues with the fact that the bulk of that money goes to the NCAA. In fact, many say that scholarships don’t cover the full cost of attending college. That’s led to the organization pledging $200 million additional funding towards Division I schools.
It makes sense that college-age kids are paying attention to their finances. In fact, the most recent results of the Marketplace Edison Research poll shows young people who are paid by the hour are especially appreciative of lower prices at the gas pump. Though, all things considered, it didn’t register quite as much in the larger results, with 51 percent responding that lower gas prices have helped current financial standings. Part of the reason that economists point to is the mistake of spending “savings” elsewhere — rationalizing that $30 saved on gas means $30 more to spend at dinner, or at the mall.
But maybe it’s all for naught, anyway. I mean, after all, we mere humans have lost the battle against robots. Sort of. In the now infamous tournament of Go played between Lee Se-dol and Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence, the final score was 4 games to 1. Put another way: Robots – 1. Humans – 0. Ah, well. As the BBC writes, Lee Se-dol does miss out on the $1 million dollar prize promised if he had won the tournament.
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